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Frank X. Tolbert's Original Bowl of Red

Total Time

2hrs
40mins

Prep

40 mins

Cook

2 hrs

From the Jamison's Texas Cooking cookbook. "One pundit said that if chili were a religion, A Bowl of Red would be it's bible and Frank X. Tolbert its Moses. This recipe is courtesy of his family and it is the traditional approach to making Texas chili. The first chili cookoff was started by Mr. Tolbert in 1967 between Texas chili master Wick Fowler and Midwest humorist H. Allen Smith. Smith had been brazen enough to write "Nobody Knows More About Chili than I Do", which debunked Texas red. Mr. Tolbert tested Smith's recipe and declared it "a chili-flavored low-torque beef and vegetable soup." That led to the first World's Championship Chili Cookoff, in Terlingua, Texas, a high-noon event that ended in a draw. The first judge voted for "Soupy" Smith, the second judge voted for Fowler's entry. The last judge took a bite of Smith's chili, feigned convulsions, and fell to the floor. When he regained his voice he declared that the Midwestwern chili had paralyzed his taste buds and left him unable to vote, forcing a draw."